Should Video Games Go On Your Resume?

That's the question asked in a recent article over at WSJ, where they dive into the recent trend of many job applicants putting their experiences with video games on their resume, in an effort to show they have the leadership and teamwork skills necessary in order to hold a real life job.

The game focused on is World of Warcraft, where some players have listed their experience managing a guild and coordinating raids as something that would apply toward real world work. From the article:

"In the "Leisure/Volunteer Activities" section of her résumé, Ms. Newman noted that she has managed guilds of as many as 500 people and organized large-scale raids of 25 to 40 players to complete tasks for several hours four to five days a week. These tasks, she said, "directly apply to the kind of job I hold."

There's a reason that World of Warcraft is focused on in the piece, because it's hard to say that most other types of games require quite as much management, coordination and teamwork. In contrast, it may be hard to justify putting "hand-eye coordination" and "perseverance" as things you've gained beating Dark Souls, or "tolerating idiots" as an experienced League of Legends player, however relevant to a workplace that might be.

The question is, does it work? Or is it a risk, given that even in this day and age, avid gaming unfortunately still comes with a stigma of laziness and immaturity?

There's no conclusive answer given, but the general feeling seems to be that while the skills acquired by certain types of gaming are real, it might be problematic to actually include them on your resume. If you're working at a hip start-up, it might give you a coolness factor that could make you stand out, in addition to the skills you proclaim it's helped you develop. But when applying for more traditional jobs, it's a pretty big gamble that HR hiring personnel are going to be gamers themselves, and respect all the time you've invested in a virtual world.

"At the end of the day, it's all make-believe," said one gamer/hiring manger from the article, with the idea that putting gaming achievements on a resume is likely to do more harm than good much of the time.

Whether or not these kinds of prejudices are fair is another matter, but they do exist. Perhaps that won't be the case in the future as gaming becomes further and further ingrained into everyday life, but for the vast majority of the time, it's still considered something of a fluffy leisure activity, even if in reality managing a guild is somewhat akin to a real life job.

Still, it's an interesting question for the digital era. If you're reading this and applying for a job within the gaming industry, either in development or the games press, I'd say absolutely include all the gaming experience you can. Hell, gaming should probably be at least half your resume if that's where you're trying to work.

But outside that, try to see it through the eyes of the person hiring you. Even if you did manage a top guild for years, and acquired leadership, teamwork and organization skills in the process, the reality is that most hiring managers at more traditional companies would rather you played a sport, took up painting or read novels. Even in the "leisure and other activities" section, some pastimes are more respected than others. Perhaps gaming will get there someday, but for now there are too many prejudices in place that make listing it on your resume a risk when applying for most jobs.